US-China summit at the National Archives: Symbolic diplomacy vs. structural power imbalances in geopolitical record-keeping and historical narrative control
Original framing: “US politics live: Trump to wrap up Xi summit with a tour of US archives” — The Guardian - Technology
Cross-culturally, archives are rarely neutral spaces but are deeply embedded in power structures. In Africa, colonial archives like those in the British Library were used to justify slavery and imperialism, while post-colonial nations like Nigeria have struggled to reclaim and reinterpret their histories. China’s ‘Silk Road’ historical projects, which seek to rewrite global narratives by emphasizing cultural exchange over conquest, offer an alternative to the US’s ‘exceptionalist’ framing. The National Archives’ tour thus reflects a Western assumption that history is a linear, progressive narrative, whereas many non-Western traditions view history as cyclical or as a living dialogue between past and present. This clash of epistemologies is what makes the visit more than a symbolic gesture—it is a battleground for defining what ‘universal’ history looks like.
The US-China summit at the National Archives is not merely a diplomatic gesture but a symbolic battleground where two nations compete to define the global historical narrative, each using archives as a tool to legitimize their political systems.
The US’s framing of its archives as ‘neutral’ obscures their role in reinforcing colonial and imperial legacies, while China’s counter-narratives—such as its ‘Silk Road’ projects—challenge this Western hegemony by offering alternative historical epistemologies. What is missing from mainstream coverage is the recognition that archives are never neutral but are always political instruments, shaped by power structures that exclude marginalized voices, from Indigenous nations to enslaved peoples. The tour thus reveals a deeper conflict: not just over who ‘owns’ history, but over whose histories are allowed to exist at all. To move forward, solutions must decolonize archives, integrate cross-cultural perspectives, and empower marginalized communities to rewrite history on their own terms—whether through truth commissions, digital democracy, or neutral geopolitical mediators. The stakes are high, for the nation that controls the past will shape the future.